Pair pulls out victories

HOLLYWOOD — Shortly after Saturday night turned to early Sunday morning, Roman "The Emperor" Mitichyan emerged from his three-round mixed martial arts main event at "Pandemonium at the Palladium" dog tired with cuts across his nose and under his right eye.

But after one very long evening and one very close fight, it was Mitichyan who emerged victorious with a unanimous decision win over Preston Scharf at the Hollywood Palladium.

"I was kind of ready for everything," Mitichyan said. "I want to thank Preston for a great fight. He's a tough guy."

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Indeed, the bout, which headlined a nine-fight boxing/MMA card that lasted roughly four and a half hours from bell to bell, featured a bit of everything. However, Mitichyan did enough grappling in the first round and striking and submission fighting in the third round to secure the win, which was scored 29-28 on all three judges' cards.

As the night ended with a win for a Glendale fighter, it began with one, as well, as rookie boxer Artur Bernetsyan also picked up a unanimous decision in a four-round boxing tilt over Ramon Flores.

It was the fourth fight, and victory, in six months for Bernetsyan (4-0, two KOs) as he out boxed and often times out brawled Flores (3-7-1).

The card, which started around 8 p.m. despite a 7:30 p.m. bell time, proved to be a long one.

For Mitichyan (11-3), who teaches and trains at the Glendale Fighting Club, along with Main Event Gym in Glendale and at Hayastan Studios in North Hollywood, it was a day that began when he was scheduled to report to the arena at 5:30 p.m. and saw him wait around until the final bout of the night.

"You can think how frustrating that is," Mitichyan said. "[At the] same time, it's the same thing for my opponent."

One aspect in Mitichyan's favor was the crowd, which was sparse by the time midnight rolled around, but still featured a heavily-Armenian and Mitichyan-biased base cheering him on.

In the opening round, Mitichyan took Scharf (11-9) down with a throw from a Muay Thai clinch. From there, it was largely a grappling bout in which both scrambled throughout, but Mitichyan maintained top position.

It was Scharf who notched a takedown in the second round, however, and did considerably more with it, working a steady ground and pound.

The third round was certainly the most entertaining with both fighters seemingly knowing the bout came down to that.